Chicago

burial

Because of the high temperatures in Palestine, it was desirable to dispose of dead bodies as soon as the appropriate customs
could be organized. The corpse was washed, anointed, and wrapped in linen cloth and carried in procession on a bier to the
grave or tomb. There could be professional mourners and even flute-players (Matt. 9: 23). For some, graves were dug, but caves were also convenient, and Abraham's family are said to have been buried in the cave of Machpelah at Hebron (Gen. 23: 19). Wealthy individuals arranged for their tombs to be cut out of the rock in a garden, as did Joseph of Arimathaea (Matt. 27: 60), and sealed with a stone which rolled on a kind of track. Cremation was not practised by the Hebrews. In the NT era ossuaries
made of limestone were used in Palestine; after bodies had disintegrated, the bones were collected and stored in chests, sometimes
giving the name of the deceased.